Shopping for new hardwood flooring in your residence is among the most fun selections a house owner could make. After spending hours gathering samples, debating finishes, and discussing flooring choices with professionals, it’s lastly time to see your imaginative and prescient come to life. Whether or not you’ve chosen the dramatic magnificence of hand-scraped planks or the smooth neutrality of a Japandi-inspired design, it’s important to ensure you have the whole lot you want for a easy set up course of—together with having sufficient flooring readily available.
Measuring flooring is a straightforward DIY activity to assist simplify the order course of. And whereas it might really feel high-stakes—in any case, hardwood flooring are sometimes the visible centerpiece of any room—following a number of steps can assist you determine how a lot flooring you want and be sure that you aren’t left scrambling when set up time arrives.
4 Steps to Measure and Calculate Sq. Footage for Flooring
1. Collect the mandatory instruments
Precision is of the utmost significance in bringing your dream hardwood flooring to life. Having the fitting instruments readily available can assist you measure your flooring so you possibly can order with confidence. Right here’s what you’ll want:
- An correct 25-35’ measuring tape
- A pencil corresponding to a carpentry pencil works finest
- Optionally available: A diagram of the ground plan
- Optionally available: A buddy or a member of the family who can assist you measure bigger areas. Whereas it’s undoubtedly attainable to measure flooring space solo, it’s a lot simpler to take action with a accomplice.
2. Measure the sq. footage of your room(s)
Hardwood flooring is bought by sq. foot, so it’s vital to measure the ground space precisely to ensure you order the whole lot you want. Most rooms in trendy houses are easy rectangles or squares, making for simple calculations: simply multiply the room size, baseboard-to-baseboard, by its width. Shopping for flooring throughout a number of rooms? Simply add them collectively to seek out the overall space.
One trick to make the method less complicated and stress-free is to divide the ground space into smaller rectangles or squares. That permits you to measure and calculate the realm of every part, then add them as much as discover the overall space of the room. Don’t neglect to incorporate any closets!
No two houses are alike, so don’t fear if the room you might want to measure has a extra advanced contour. You possibly can nonetheless roughly divide it into smaller rectangles or squares to offer an correct estimate. When you’re having issue imagining, it’s a good suggestion to consult with your flooring plan or do a easy sketch your self. When unsure, spherical up.
Ensure to take a number of measurements of every house to ensure your measurement is correct. what they are saying: measure twice, order as soon as.
3. Think about further flooring wants
It’s all the time higher to have further flooring than danger having too little and stopping set up partway via to order new boards. That’s very true in case you’re deciding on a particular customized stain, texture, or grain sample, which may take longer to supply and runs the danger of not matching your first order precisely.
When measuring your rooms’ sq. footage, begin by rounding all of your measurements up. Then, add in two further columns: waste issue and attic allowance.
The waste issue usually runs from about 5-10%, however relies on the width of your hardwood flooring boards and the set up itself. For instance, a straight lay set up would use a ten% waste issue, however an set up with many angled wall traces, very vast flooring planks, or a herringbone or chevron sample would possibly improve the waste issue to 10-15%. You probably have a particular imaginative and prescient in your dream flooring, with restricted colour variation or explicit colour tones, it’s finest to order further waste nearer to twenty%. That method, you possibly can be sure that each single floorboard matches your inventive fantasy with out worrying about logistics. When unsure, don’t hesitate to double-check your waste issue with a flooring skilled earlier than inserting your order.
What’s an “attic allowance” of flooring? These are further boards that may come in useful within the occasion of repairs. Ordering the extra allowance concurrently the first floorboards ensures that they are going to slot in seamlessly, and repairs might be completely undetected. Ensure to retailer these boards in an space with managed humidity to maintain them in good condition till they’re wanted. Whereas it may appear pointless, having these further boards readily available in case of surprising occasions corresponding to moisture harm can assist keep away from the headache of attempting to match alternative wooden boards along with your current flooring.
4. Add all of it up and buy
As soon as you realize the sq. footage of the room, simply add within the waste issue and attic allowance, and also you’ve received the correct quantity of flooring to purchase. Now you can place your order with certainty and prepare to have the ground of your desires put in in your house. When you’re having doubts about your measurements, it’s by no means a nasty concept to seek the advice of a trusted wooden flooring skilled to examine over your work.
Why Measuring Flooring Issues
Measuring flooring won’t be essentially the most inventive or enjoyable activity in residence design, but it surely’s one of the crucial simple methods to streamline the flooring course of and scale back the danger of surprising obstacles to set up. With these 4 steps in thoughts, measuring flooring and ordering the correct quantity of sq. footage might be a breeze. In fact, there’s one final step to take: basking within the splendor of your magnificent hardwood flooring, actually appreciating each board and sq. foot it took to craft it.
